Combo chips for mobile phones with Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and near-field communications (NFC) all on one device are behind Broadcom’s move for UK-based NFC developer Innovision Research & Technology.
Broadcom has agreed to pay $47.5m for Innovision Research & Technology, which develops NFC chips and RFID devices.
Innovision has recently released details of its second generation NFC semiconductor intellectual property (IP) called GEM 2 which supports operation a the lower 1.8V which effectively makes it useable in the next generations of 65nm and 40nm system-on-chip (SoC) devices.
According to Innovision Research & Technology’s v-p marketing, Stephen Graham, so-called “combo” SoCs, typically combine Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS and WiFi, as well as NFC.
“These combo devices will be used in mobile phones design in 2012, when the mainstream process technology for SoCs will be 40nm,” Graham told EW.
Broadcom is already combining Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS on a single device for mobile phones, with Innovision it can add NFC, which is expected to be used for contactless transactions on handsets.
Innovision also has a licensing agreement with NXP Semiconductors, co-inventor of the NFC standard
Broadcom expects to close the acquisition of Innovision in the third quarter of 2010.
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